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Microsoft struggles to rid US shores of pesky pirates

Walking the plank - again

Microsoft yesterday confirmed that it has filed 21 civil lawsuits for software piracy in US federal courts against resellers in 14 states.

The tech multinational has slung its latest round of sue balls at resellers, claiming they have used a crafty technique that it likes to refer to as “hard-disk loading”.

It said that the shady practice involves miscreants installing unlicensed software onto a computer and then selling it on to foolishnaïve unsuspecting customers.

Microsoft banged a very familiar drum about its latest legal proceedings against US resellers that include Encino, California-based Computer Center, Advanced Computer Corporation of Memphis, Tennessee and Pine Bluff, Arkansas-based Delta Computers.

It rolled out the same old grumbles about how such underhand, illegal practices undercut law-abiding resellers. Of course, it's also bad for the company's profit margins.

“These legal actions are about protecting Microsoft’s customers from falling victim to some dealers who operate a business model of peddling pirated and counterfeit software,” said Microsoft legal eagle Sharon Cates.

You can't really blame Microsoft for retreading old press releases. Cates admitted that it brought previous legal actions against some of the resellers named yesterday. Nevertheless, they have continued to blow raspberries at Microsoft by allegedly punting pirated goods.

Last month Microsoft filed piracy lawsuits in a US federal court against eight firms it accused of selling illegal versions of its software.

It alleged that resellers gained from illegal sales involving the unlawful importation of unlicensed software into North America from multiple dealers overseas. ®